I’ve been wanting to try one of these diaries, and with game one of the NBA Finals and the second half of the Phillies and Mets running simultaneously, this seems like the right time. We’re fresh from the vast nearby Sheetz convenience complex with an armload of caffeine and, well, here we go.
9:03 p.m. – The opening tip. Unless my watch is slow, we’re underway with amazingly little nonsense. On the toss, Duncan goes up with the ball, which is illegal, and gets by with it.
9:15 – Tony Parker goes down hard, facilitating the first of what will be many Eva Longoria shots. Followed by the first of what will be many, “OK, you can get the camera off me now,’’ Eva Longoria looks.
9:22 – Spurs are already in control, and the game feels about like you thought it would: Cleveland doesn’t have enough weapons, and Lebron is deep in get-the-teammates-involved mode.
9:24 – Mark Jackson may be a bit too keyed up for the finals. He’s spouting cliches - “At the end of the day, he wants to be the last guy standing,’’ - which is not his usual MO, and when they go to commercial with a shot of Parker, Jackson practically hollers, “Happy marriage!’’
9:28 – The Phils have blown a 2-0 lead and trail 3-2. I heard some of the rally on the radio on the way to and from Sheetz, but I must’ve missed Cholly Manuel getting tossed… Jimmy Williams is calling the shots, something we all might have to get used to at some point
9:30 – Lebron free throws – attempts and makes - are going to be a key stat. He gets his first two with a minute left in the first quarter. Not good. Worse, he’s 0-for-4 from the field.
9:32 – Last possession of the first quarter, and Lebron’s holding it too long and well-guarded by Manu Ginobli, who takes a charge. They’ve got him bottled up, somewhat.
9:34 – The Phillies are still down 3-2. Pat Burrell is leading off the ninth against Billy Wagner, who’s throwing 98. This is why they invented the remote.
9:36 – Swear to God, Burrell caught up to one. Harry the K: “Ouuttttaaaa here!!! This game is tied!!! Burrell has tied it, jumping on a Billy Wagner fastball!!!”
Whee!!! It’s Wagner’s first blown save of 2007. The sound of Shea deflating must be audible in North Jersey.
Break it down for us, Sarge!: “That’s what you call a home run.’’ Thank you!
Wheels chimes in, bringing up the old Burrell-Wagner feud, which comes down to this: Wagner doesn’t find media people a threat to his manhood and Burrell’s a dork. “That’s the way you get payback,” Wheels says. He’s a dork, too.
9:42 – Back with the basketball, which has gotten a little rudderless and jump-shot happy, as NBA games will. The Cavs are right there. I was thinking today that for some reason I can see this series going like Sixers-Lakers in ’01, Cleveland stealing game one and the Spurs winning it in five anyway.
9:48 – Phils-Mets tied, bottom of the ninth. This lefthanded reliever the Phils just called up, Zagurski (whose nickname should be “Bronco”) seems ordinary stuffwise but pretty fearless. He looks maybe 15, like a scruffy version of the older brother on “The Wonder Years.’’ He gets the game to extra innings.
10:00- Check out the Phils- Rollins leads off the tenth with a single, gets bunted to second and takes off to steal third just as Utley sends a cheapish double down the third-base line. 4-3.
Wheels lauds the Phillies’ scrap throughout this series with the Mets: “The guys who can run are trying to disrupt things.’’ Yeah, and they very nearly pulled it off.
10:11 – Ginobli hits a three – the Spurs’ first three of the night – at the halftime buzzer, to put his team up five. Very Spur-esque.
10:14 – Back to Shea, where somehow it’s 6-3 Phils, bases loaded, one out. Note to LNP bosses: Clearly, to do my job properly, I need picture-in-picture technology.
10:24 – Halftime at San Antonio, bottom nine at Shea, where Antonio Alfonseca’s crusade against modern conditioning techniques continues.
10:27 – Phils win, sweep the Mets at Shea, have now won six straight against the Mets and Braves, all on the road. The teenager from The Wonder Years gets the win, the bulllpen is immaculate for the third straight night, and Pat Burrell is Mr. Clutch. In other news: air-traffic controllers clear pigs for landing.
(P.S.- The bad news is there is no such thing as day-to-day momentum in baseball. The good news is now the Phils go to stinky Kansas City.)
10:35 – Hoops again. Spurs, as expected, have the right idea against Lebron, hemming him in off the dribble rather than merely running extra guys at him. They’ve turned him into a jump-shooter, and he’s 0-for-8 and getting gun-shy. Spurs only up five, though. Drew Gooden, of all people, is showing up, and not just in terms of neck hair.
10:38 – Lebron gets his first FG with about 7 minutes left in the third.
10:41 – How does Gooden trim that thing? I’m just saying.
10:53 - The game’s getting away from Cleveland. The lead’s in the 10-12 range and the Spurs have more energy. Gooden’s in position to drill Ginobli and deny him an open-court layup, utterly fails to do so, and gets called for a flagrant anyway.
10:58 - The difference between the Cavs now and a year ago is now they defend- that’s one thing their coach, who generally seems overmatched, deserves some credit for. But right now, as Jackson points out, they’re simply not stopping the ball in the open-court, halfcourt, whatever. Spurs up 15 after three and the game and this diary are winding down.
11:02 - Those commercials for the NBA with the magician - why? Would anyone be disapponted if they just didn’t bother with that kind of stuff?
(Bear with me- I’m changing computers and “offices”, bedroom to living room, as the family’s shifting around the house at bedtime.)
11:16 - The Spurs are going to get by, but Lebron is starting to feel it- two straight deep threes followed by a brilliant 30-foot pass… San Antonians swallowing hard and having Detroit game five flashbacks….
11:31 - I shouldn’t dump on Mark Jackson; he’s generally an excellent color guy, but now he’s channeling Gary Matthews. Why are the Spurs so good? “They get it done.”
Thanks Mark!
11:35 - It’s over. 84-75. Reasons to feel OK if you’re the Cavs: Lebron didn’t come close to getting off, and they still didn’t get blown out, and he started to show some signs late. Pavlovic and Gooden showed up. This series feels a little like the Detroit series, which means it doesn’t really start until we go to Cleveland.
What else have we learned, kids? That there’s something like a pennant race in the NL East. Go figure.
11:39 - We’re done. I’ll do better next time. That means there will be a next time. Go to bed. I know I am.
